Marketing; Thoughts and Questions

What’s Up Pinterest?

First, I would like to say that I have finally joined the digital age and purchased a smartphone. I got an iPhone 4 to replace my old go phone that had no camera and could barely do the basics of make phone calls and text (I had to relearn T9 for it). I am still adjusting to the iPhone and have had it for almost three weeks now. Favorite games so far are Draw Something and Scramble with Friends. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

In other news, I wanted to talk about the craze of Pinterest. Since the beginning of this school year it seems, Pinterest has been growing like gangbusters. Yes, it does seem to be mostly around women but there is still a pretty decent male population as well. The basic idea of Pinterest as it seems to me is to collect images with design, health, thoughtful and lifestyle items to share with everyone. In a sense, another way to procrastinate. The great thing however, is that you can create your own boards and customize your interests so you can choose what you see. I personally did sign up for an account but very rarely put the effort to pin, repin, follow or even login to my profile. The public page is just perfect enough for my procrastination. Pinterest is one of the sites I make sure to visit before I actually can begin my homework.

The question the Pinterest craze arises, however is whether or not companies should join the site and try to create relevant boards. The argument about just claiming the domain is still relevant here and important but the issue of what to post and how active to be is the next problem. Luckily, repinning is as simple as clicking a button (literally). The “Pin it” button can be installed in your Google Chrome browser to make adding things to your boards simple. Remember, that pinning articles doesn’t work too well. Pinterest grabs images to choose from on the site to pin that will steal your attention. Browsing and repinning from other boards is a great way to build a community on the platform.

Just like Twitter, it seems important to post items that would interest your followers. Be mindful not to focus on purely promoting your organization (Pinterest seems to be very serious about this).

Personally, I think that Pinterest is a great way for companies to have fun with their communities and show a personality and maybe even sense of humor. This platform does not and should not be 100% professional.

What are your thoughts on Pinterest either personally or professionally? If you do have any recommendations for good iPhone apps, please share!